Draco's Task
by Aikoyu Saotome
Summary: What if Draco found Hermione by the stairs instead of Harry after she witnessed Ron and Lavender's kiss? Rating subject to change.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter. Just this plot based on the movie scene.

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Harry looked everywhere, but he could not find her. She left Gryffindor Tower, but she was too fast for him. Not to mention all of the people he had to push through to get to the portrait hole. He sighed and shook his head at his thick-skulled friend, then proceeded upstairs to the room he shared with Ron, Dean, and Seamus.

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She couldn't believe he had gone and done that. How could he? Didn't he like _her_? So why did he go and kiss another girl? Stupid prat. She didn't know where she was going – she just kept moving until she came to a staircase and descended. She wasn't too far from Gryffindor, but she felt too much grief to care. She was crying so hard, now, that she couldn't go any further and sat on the bottom step, folding her knees to her chest and letting her tears flow freely.

She waved her wand.

"_Avis_."Birds flew out of her wand and began to float and chirp above her head. That stupid git. Couldn't he see how much she cared about him?

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Draco was sneaking around, again. He was on his way to the Room of Requirement to test the vanishing cabinet for the second time, but he stopped walking and turned his body slightly. He heard something…He began to walk towards it, curious. As it grew louder, he recognized it – it was the sound of someone who was in emotional pain. It was coming from the bottom of a spiral staircase, so he slowly and quietly climbed down it. When he saw the girl's hair, he immediately knew who it was – but why was she so upset?

"Granger?" he said softly. She hiccoughed and turned around, but when she saw who it was, she turned her back to him again.

"W-what do you want, Malfoy?"

"I…just heard someone crying, that's all." He walked down the rest of the stairs and stood next to where she was sitting so he could see her face.

"S-so you came to make fun of me, i-is that it? Go away. Leave me to my misery."

"No, that's not it. Contrary to you, Weaslebee, and Potter, I'm not cold-hearted but if you would like to spurn my offered company, by all means, wallow in your tears." He turned to leave but when he was about to turn the corner, she stopped him.

"Wait! Don't go…" He stopped and turned his head to look at her, his hands in his pockets. "I…I'm sorry…it's just…well, you know. You've always been a git to us…what was I supposed to think?"

"What people show to the public isn't necessarily who they really are."

"I know…"

He walked back over to her.

"Can I sit?" She nodded, unable to speak, for a sob had overcome her. "What's with the birds?"

"Just practicing charms…it kind of made me feel better, I guess…"

"Care to explain?"

"Why do you care?" she asked softly.

"I'm just curious but if you don't want to talk about it, that's fine."

They sat in silence for about five minutes but when she was about to finally speak, they heard giggling and running. Two people then came into view – two people who were kissing and laughing and running after each other.

When Ron and Lavender noticed they were not alone, they stopped.

"Ohh, heeheehee! It looks like this room is taken!"

Ron was going to ask about the tears that were in his friend's eyes – but then he noticed Malfoy.

"What the hell are _you_ doing here, Malfoy?! Get away from her!"

"I believe it is called sitting," came Draco's bored drawl. "And no, I will not leave. We were having a nice conversation before you and your little girlfriend decided to interrupt it with your vomit-inducing antics."

"SHUT UP!" Ron pulled out his wand. Lavender looked scared, Draco looked bored, and Hermione's face was unreadable. However, when it looked like Ron was about to hex Draco, she stepped in.

"Leave him alone, Ron. We _were_ actually having a conversation before you came in and if you don't leave him alone, I won't talk to you." Ron looked stricken.

"But why?"

"He was here when you and Harry weren't."

He was about to say something, but the look on Hermione's face and the obvious pain in her voice stopped him.

"Well I didn't know…why are you so upset?"

Hermione's face contorted with anger and she stood up.

"_Oppugno!_" The birds suddenly formed a formation and dove for Ron, but he and Lavender jumped out of the way. Ron gave Hermione a hurt look, but the birds flew for him again and chased him out of the room.

Hermione let out a sob and practically fell back onto the stair. She covered her face with her hands.

"Just go," she said. "Leave me alone. You don't care about me and I look like an idiot."

"If I was upset about something and someone was offering me comfort, I wouldn't turn them away. And I would never turn away from someone who is crying."

She burst into tears and leaned on the only comfort she could find. He was quite surprised, but came over it and hesitantly placed his right arm around her.

Draco knew what it was like to be upset and have no one to care. She probably had lots of friends, but they weren't here, now, and he wasn't about to leave. He felt an odd protectiveness for the girl surge through him, and he subconsciously tightened his hold on her.

His task could wait.

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I hope you enjoyed that. Please tell me what you think!


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I don't own anything but the plot

WOW! You guys…I got _sixteen_ reviews for my _first_ chapter. O.O Thank you!!!

I hope you enjoy this one as much!

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As she made her way back to the common room after she and Malfoy parted, she couldn't help but feel a bit of a likeness towards him. As much as he made her life hell for the past five years, he _did_ stop to comfort her. He could have easily made fun of her and gone on his merry way…but he didn't. He even held her. When she leaned on him, she immediately thought that he would push her away, disgusted, and call her a mudblood, but he just put an arm around her and sat with her for a good twenty minutes, at least.

He also didn't goad Ron, she realized. She unwillingly smiled, and her heart gave a little squeeze of affection for him. Then she scowled. '_He's Draco Malfoy, Hermione! Get a grip!'_ But she couldn't stop thinking about him. Why had he done that? Why did he have to go and be sweet to her like that? Now she won't be able to stop thinking about him! UGH!

She reached the portrait hole, muttered the password, and leapt in to avoid being seen by Filch or Mrs. Norris. Harry was waiting for her.

"Hermione! Where've you been?? I've been so worried! I went after you but I couldn't find you, so I came back here to wait for you. It's been almost an hour! Are you alright?"

"I'm fine, Harry," she said, heartened. As much as she cherished Ron's friendship – when he wasn't with his precious Lavender – Harry was her best friend. Ginny was a very close second.

"No you're not, Mione. You were crying."

She smiled at his use of her nickname – one that Harry made up, after which Ron and Ginny started using it. There was no one else in the common room, as it was late and the party had ended, so she sat down next to him. She leaned on him and let her head rest on his left shoulder.

Just then, Ron and Lavender came giggling through the portrait hole – just her luck, Hermione thought. They must have been able to get rid of the birds, somehow, she mused darkly. They quieted when they saw Hermione and Harry, then turned back to themselves.

"Goodnight, Won-Won."

"Night, Lav."

She wiggled noses with him, kissed him soundly on the lips while stealing a glance at Hermione, then they both went upstairs. Hermione couldn't help it; two tears slid down her cheeks. Harry wiped them away and took her into his arms.

"Is this how you feel when you see Ginny with Dean?" came Hermione's teary question. Harry looked surprised. "I know…I see the way you look at her."

"Yeah. This is exactly how it feels."

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The morning went on as usual. It was a Saturday, and a Hogsmeade weekend. Hermione seemed to have gotten over being upset and sad over Ron and changed to just glaring, rolling her eyes, and fake gagging when they weren't looking. Harry would agree and laugh, which would cheer Hermione right up. She hadn't told him about Draco – she felt that it did not need to be mentioned.

She glanced over at the Slytherin table and saw him staring off into space, his head resting in his right hand, but she caught something she must have missed last night. His grey eyes held very well-disguised pain. She wondered if she was simply imagining things, that the pain in his stormy eyes wasn't really there at all. So she dismissed it, and went with Harry to Hogsmeade – Lavender and 'Won-Won' went by themselves about an hour earlier.

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He watched her leave with Potter, his eyes following her out the doors of the Great Hall. His heart was thumping like mad, and for two reasons – Hermione and the necklace. He could not for the life of him figure out why he had offered her comfort last night. Her sobs were just heartbreaking. He had figured out what she was upset about after Weasley and Brown came and went, and it wasn't too hard to see this morning because she clearly hated every minute the two spent together. He chuckled when he saw her make a gagging motion when the two lovebirds left the Gryffindor table.

His glare at Weasley as he passed his table was particularly strong today because of the events that took place last night, but Weasley, being as thick as he is, just glared back without a thought and left the Great Hall, hand in hand with Brown.

He decided he had had enough of having people around him, so he stood, took the black parcel he had on the table, and left. He was on his way to Hogsmeade. When he arrived, he went into the Three Broomsticks and took a table at the darkest corner. When he spotted Katie Bell, one of the Gryffindor chasers, he shakily, and hesitantly, went into action.

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Somehow – she would never figure it out – Ron managed to split up with Lavender. The blonde had to do something or other with her friends, he said. He wasn't too clear, but Hermione didn't care. She was walking back to the carriages with Harry and Ron when they heard a scream up ahead. They ran to where Leanne, Katie Bell's best friend, was standing and saw Katie get lifted into the air by an unseen force. She let out a horrifying scream, then plummeted to the ground.

"I told her not to touch it! But she didn't listen!!" Leanne cried. Suddenly, Hagrid's form appeared through the snow.

"Do not touch that!" he said, pointing to the blue and turquoise necklace that was glittering on the snow. "'Cept for the wrappin'." He picked Katie up and they all hurried back to the castle.

Hermione had been designated to carry the box to Professor McGonagall after it had been safely levitated back into it and the box closed.

"Why is it that whenever something like this happens, it is always you three?" McGonagall asked.

"Trust me, Professor," said Ron, "we always ask ourselves the same question."

"Oh, Severus! Can you take a look at this for me, please?" McGonagall asked when Snape walked into her classroom. He levitated it from its casing and looked it over. "What do you think?"

"I think Miss Bell is lucky to be alive."

"It was Malfoy," Harry said suddenly. Hermione looked at him incredulously. Malfoy wasn't capable of doing something like this!

"That is a very serious accusation, Potter," said McGonagall.

"Indeed," agreed Snape. "Your proof?"

"I just know."

"You just…know," Snape repeated.

"He's always up to no good."

"I think you three had better get out of here while we sort this out, hm? Out!" McGonagall said, shooing them out of the room.

"Harry! What's gotten into you?" Hermione asked. "Malfoy isn't capable of pulling something so…so _dark_!"

"Why not? His father is a death eater! Malfoy would easily walk in his footsteps!"

"Ron!"

"Don't look at me! I agree that Malfoy is bad news."

Hermione huffed and stalked away – probably to the library, her two friends thought. They shook their heads at each other and proceeded to lunch.

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On her way to the library, she heard horrible noises coming from Moaning Myrtle's bathroom. She cautiously stepped inside and her heart broke at what she saw. The same boy who had given her strength and held her just last night was gripping the ceramic of one of the sinks and retching into it. She dropped her bag and ran over to him, pulling back his beautiful hair from his sweaty forehead.

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He ran. He felt sick over what he had done, and he had to get away from Hogsmeade. He ran all the way back to the castle, retching once or twice on the way – he couldn't keep track. When he got inside, he made a beeline for the nearest bathroom, which happened to be Moaning Myrtle's bathroom on the first floor. He retched into the first of the sinks that were arranged in a circle in the middle of the room. Tears fell down his sweaty, pallid cheeks. He was so wrought with grief and shame, that he didn't hear the door open. When he felt a cool hand brushing back his hair from his face and a supporting arm on his back, he looked up into the stunning brown eyes that were looking up at him last night, red and teary. For a moment, he thought the situation ironic, that their positions had switched.

"Malfoy, what's wrong?" she asked softly.

"Don't call me that name," came his raspy, grief-stricken voice. "My name is Draco."

"Okay, sorry…Draco…what happened?"

But all he did was shake his head and, to his immense embarrassment, retched into the sink again. However, she did not run away in disgust like he expected her to do. She instead began rubbing his back and talking to him with a soothing voice.

"It's alright, you don't have to tell me. Calm down, take deep breaths. You need to slow your heart-rate, Draco, or you'll keep throwing up. Come on, now, please? Deep breaths."

And slowly, his heart began to calm. The cold water in the sink was already running, so she put her left hand under it and then placed it on his forehead.

"Sit," she said gently. As he did so, she reached into her bag and handed him the bottle of water she was saving for later. "Drink that. It'll get the taste out of your mouth and calm your breathing." She went around the sinks and found the roll of paper towels that was in every bathroom in the school. She ripped off two squares of it, ran it under cold water, and knelt next to Draco. She first wiped away his tears, then placed the cool towel on his forehead. She noticed that he drank some of the water.

"Do you feel any better?" she asked. He took a deep breath and nodded.

She saw tears threaten to fall again, so she took him into her arms very much like he had done, and his defensive wall crumbled. His tears fell, followed by more that were accompanied by small sobs. She tightened her hold on him as her heart broke.

"Hermione?" came his deep voice next to her left ear.

"Yes?" she whispered.

"Why are you doing this?"

"For the same reason why you did it for me last night, Draco."

He said nothing more, but she could tell that he did not want her to let go of him. He clutched her as if she was his life force. He needed someone to lean on; he couldn't deal with whatever was plaguing him alone. What happened to the strong, smiling boy who made her feel better last night when she was crying? She found that she was not at all uncomfortable or disgusted by holding him. He was obviously plagued by something horrible, and she no longer saw the annoying, stupid little git who taunted her, Harry, and Ron. This boy's life was much much worse than any of theirs, but she would not push an explanation out of him. He had not done that last night. She would wait. If he wanted to tell her, that was his choice. For now, she would hold him as long as he needed it.

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I hope you enjoyed that! Thanks again for the lovely reviews!!!


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